Tuesday, March 25, 2014

I'd like to say a huge thank you to all who visited my stall at Blandford Forum yesterday...It was a beautiful fair with a fabulous atmosphere, perfectly organised by Elaine, who has reported back saying the comments from the visitors has been very positive, most of those being appreciative of the quality of the merchandise, saying 'how they loved visiting a fair with no tat!' :)

I went for a spring/Easter look to my stand, with lots of pale pastel colours and pretty gift ideas for the season.

Perhaps as a rebellion to my sea of soft colours, (I'm not sure?) but my purchases from the event were far from pale and pastel!...This stunning vintage Sanderson called to me...Buy me...

It has a definite Scandinavian feel to the design and is called Shirabad. Several lovely meters of unused fabric to play with...It came from M of Vintage Jane.Is it a phase, or is my taste changing, I ask myself?...Subconsciously, I've been pinning photographs with a different feel to my Pinterest boards recently, including some to a 60's/70's revival board...Eras I never would have guessed I'd revisit again with any great joy! ?

Another purchase from the fair was this collection of brightly coloured vintage millinery flowers from Sarah Dinsmore.

Finally an antique needlepoint cushion for our sofa., which came from Linda Campbell...Just £5 because its in need of a small repair...which will be easily done.The next fair I shall be attending is next month's Vintage Bazaar, Frome on Saturday 19th April (Easter Saturday) -Hope to see you there,Niki x

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Whilst at my shop yesterday, I was looking around the shelves at some of the stock that has hung around a little longer than I would have liked. One of those items was this boxed set of EPNS egg cups...

Now normally I wouldn't split up a boxed set, but these really have had their chance to sell and they needed to move on - I decided to make individual Easter gifts from each one...

A pretty pastel bow around the base and the addition of a scrummy chocolate egg, they were ready to be packaged.

Cellophane bag tied with a velvet ribbon and a decorative tag.

(The blue velvet box that they were in will receive a makeover soon!)

I then moved on to some simple Wedgwood cups and saucers in plain white bone china. Perhaps because they are so plain, and my shop is known for its abundance of flowers, they have proved to be poor sellers...

Hopefully with the addition of chocolate, they may become more popular! ;-))

I've display them inside a stunning vintage flower arranger's basket, which I tied with a big floppy satin bow.

I also had some plain white sugar bowls, which I have filled with candy coated chocolate eggs and added a pair of vintage sugar tongs to finish.

I then turned my attention to my drawers! ;-))Sadly, these have always been a difficult area to sell from, with customers reluctant to ask to look through them...

I pulled out some of the tray cloths that have sat piled up inside for a while. I thought with a few quick stitches and the addition of a wooden coat hanger, they'd make pretty hanging storage.

Ideal for keeping tights, head scarves, gloves etc organised in the wardrobe.

I made two of them from the glut of cotton tray cloths.

They'd be a sweet gift for Mother's Day...and with that in mind, I also packaged two 'mother' brooches with handmade pillows and a vintage card as another gift idea.

WWII era brooch pin.

Same era, with mother-of-pearl backing.All of these items will be coming with me to the Vintage at the Village Hall Fair tomorrow. A visit to Blandford Forum Corn Exchange will be the perfect place to do some gift buying for Mothering Sunday and Easter! (Or just come along and treat yourself!)

This morning I topped up the treasures for my stall with a quick trip to my local market...I'm putting together a very springlike display with lots of pastel colours and flowers reflecting this special time of year.

It would be lovely to see you if you can make it along :)

Niki x

PS: Just wanted to show this little vase that I bought for myself - Probably Victorian, is hand painted and made of opaline glass. Love it. I now have two opaline vases, so feel another collection about to start!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Hope you had a lovely weekend - I spent the beautifully sunny Sunday searching for treasures at the local antiques fair...I've made it my mission recently to add to my collection of vintage/antique textiles.

I've been trying (with some difficulty) to make some decisions about my life, both home and business, to decide how best to move forward. Every now and then I think its important to think about where life is taking you and if things need to change, to work out how best to do so, if it's possible. The vintage bubble does seem to have deflated recently; I've found sales becoming ever harder to secure. I've decided for now to stop making my rag dolls (I've been making them for over 20 years now!) and will concentrate on making fairies only for the festive season...It will be good to take a rest from them for a while. I have lots more things to work out yet, but am hoping to make some changes by the end of the year.

In the meantime, I want to concentrate on working with the ever cheerful vintage florals that I've always loved and amassed - Here is my stall back in 2006, when I used to sell at the antiques fair, Shepton Mallet...

And yesterday's purchases from the same event...

A French textile, printed with beautiful poppies.

Another French fabric, this one with a purple rose design.

A gorgeous rose ruffled pelmet.

A sweet c1950's piece.

The tiniest scrap of Sanderson, but one of my favourite designs and colourways.

I'm enjoying incorporating many of the finds into cushions, with special one-off panels working as a central feature...This c1930's hand embroidery is incredibly vibrant and appears to have never been used in a project...It is pristine.

Two more 30's textiles, which need to be made up into large oval boudoir pillows.

And a piece of chenille of the same era.

I also uncovered this little floral oil painting on wood and a French celluloid picture frame, in need of a little restoration.

Finally a rather unassuming c1920's suitcase...

But lift the lid...

And what a wonderful surprise!

***

Here's the hand embroidered panel that I bought from Elaine at Devises, which I've now stitched into a cushion cover.

Another to keep for next Monday's fair I think.Have a great week - Hope life is being kind to you,Niki x